Development of microemulsion containing prednisolone

Abstract

Prednisolone, an anti-inflammatory drug with a very slight solubility (0.23 mg/mL at 25 °C), high permeability and short biological half-life (2–4 h) in oral administration was selected as the candidate drug for sustained drug release. The aim of this research is to formulate and evaluate the stable formation of oil-in-water microemulsion for enhancing the solubility of the model drug. Microemulsion containing oleic acid as oil component, Tween 20 and P188 as main surfactant and co-surfactant at different ratios were evaluated. The microemulsion was characterized by stability test, particle size, clarity, conductivity and pH value. A stable system at nano size (11.6 and 12.3 nm) which possibly enhanced drug solubility with no drug aggregation.